Pathfinder Society Scenario #9–15: The Bloodcove Blockade PDF

The Aspis Consortium has poached relics from the Mwangi Expanse for decades, but the organization has recently identified a wealth of rare minerals deep in the Kaava Lands. The biggest catch is that the Society is familiar with this area, and a massive mining operation like the one the Consortium's planning wouldn't just disrupt local cultures; it risks unleashing a powerful fiend the Pathfinder Society narrowly kept sealed away.

Such a large operation is beyond the capacity of a few agents to stop. Instead, the Exchange is armed and ready to strangle Bloodcove's imports to shut down the Consortium's plan before it can inflict too much damage. For this maneuver to work, though, the Exchange needs allies and intelligence within Bloodcove, made all the more essential now that the Society's sole agent in Bloodcove has disappeared.

Contents in "The Bloodcove Blockade” also contribute directly to the ongoing storyline of the Exchange faction.

Average product rating:

Trade negotiations, rescue a princess, overthrow the empire!

OK, this isn't Star Wars. Maybe "princess" and "empire" is a bit much. I probably titled this incorrectly.

This is not a spoiler, as it's the introductory text, but the basic gist here is: the PCs are tasked with digging up dirt on the Aspis Consortium, and sharing that information with rebels in the hopes that it will disrupt trade. Somewhere in there might be a daring rescue.

For my group, we bungled our initial attempts to (peacefully) extract information. It was doubly difficult because there was a lawful good healer in the group AND a paladin. We couldn't be stealthy, sneaky, or deceptive.

Having said that, we pushed through and in the end we got enough data to enter into negotiations and/or "persuasive talks" with a couple of important NPCs, and managed to win them to our cause. As you might expect from a Pathfinder Society product, these NPCs quested us with "jobs" to do to help them before they would fully ally with us.

I have yet to read the PDF, but my impression from playing is that this is at least a little bit of a sandbox. Our GM spent a good portion of the night asking, "So, what do you want to do next?" I didn't feel like I was on a railroad -- we had a handful of leads & things to do right at the start and we didn't seem to experience much limitation as to order of events. This open-endedness may have caused the game to run a little long.

The combat encounters for this product are quite enjoyable. At least for me, there were conditions and status effects (high tier) that causes limitations to movement or penalties for doing certain actions, and it made the encounters seem dynamic and interesting. Three different PCs could channel energy in our group, so the fights never put anyone in danger, but having to deal with terrain & cover & so on was a nice wildcard to add to the encounter challenge.

For GMs:

Spoiler:

We had some issues in our game:

1. If the PCs can take 10 on negotiation stuff (they should be able to), at level 6-7 we were getting 35-40 (with Aid Another). This murders the DCs in this product. We had fun anyway.

2. Multiple times we pulled back and went to buy gear from town. However, the game appears to be on some kind of timer, so you should work out how much delay happens if people go to market.

3. There is a trap but it's also a plant (not a plant monster, just a trap made of vines). This gets weird if the PCs can Speak with Plants. Watch out for that.

4. There can be a LOT of status effects. Once PCs know of the timer, they may push through the night. Dim light confers a 20% miss chance, like the Blur spell. There can be half-speed rules from certain terrain, and that penalty can double from the Web spell. You'll want to figure out how the thorny ground works in the demon fight, and the demon itself has funky rules for movement. Be prepared to juggle lots of terrain/conditions/etc. When I run it, I may put out little table tents (folded 3x5 cards) that show what effects are in play, so as to maybe get some help from my players to remember it all.

This is not the Bloodcove you are looking for

I've played the previous Bloodcove scenarios and they were all great, memorable, so I always look forward to returning.

Unfortunately, this trip to Bloodcove was mundane. Impress this person, impress this person, yawn.

Being in Bloodcove didn't even seem dangerous. Are you wearing disguises? Yep. No roll needed.

I'm still unsure about the mechanics of the last encounter. Some hit points seem off.

Detailed Rating:

Length: Medium (3.5 hours).
Experience: Player at subtier 6-7 (4-player adj) with 6 average PCs.
Sweet Spot: TBD.
Entertainment: It was OK. (6/10)
Story: There was a story, but it wasn't great. (6/10)
Roleplay: Small amounts of roleplay that were not great. (5/10)
Combat/Challenges: The second encounter had a neat mechanic. That saved the scenario from being 2 stars. (7/10)
Maps: Looked good but GM hand drew them. So not so good. (8/10)
Boons: Great, especially for Exchange, almost too good compared to the lack of risk. (9/10)
Uniqueness: Impress this person. (3/10)
GM Preparation: TDB.